COMING SOON! Third Annual Trip Around the World 2016

Get ready for another fun-filled cultural trip around the world in 72 days, about to begin in one month!

This year’s travels will be a combination of my two world trips in 2014 and 2015 (see summaries above). I will be headingeastward from San Francisco to Germany for the annual Dresden Music Festival in May (my fourth year in a row!). The photo above is the completely rebuilt center of the city in Dresden, known as the “Florence of the Elbe”. After that, it’s back to Berlin to attend a one month, intermediate level language course at the Goethe Institute.

The second leg of the trip will be another long-distance train ride. I will meet my husband Gee Kin in Beijing to take the Trans-Mongolian train to Ulan Bator, where we launch a one-week visit to Mongolia. After a stop in Irkutsk along Lake Baikal, we plan to continue last year’s trail of the Trans-Siberian Railroad in the eastward direction to the final coastal destination at Vladivostok.

The last segment of the trip will take place in Japan. From Tokyo, we will head west to visit Kusatsu Hot Springs, Nagano, Matsumoto Castle, and a walking trail known as the Nakasendo Highway, an ancient route built more than 400 years ago that connected Edo to Kyoto.

This might be considered a consolidation trip, to revisit and capture some of the highlights that were missed or overlooked from the past two years. I will have more time to reflect and explore German and Russian cultures, and to compare them with the Mongolian and Japanese. I hope you will enjoy traveling along with me to cities like Dresden, Berlin, Beijing, Ulan Bator, Irkutsk, Vladivostok, Nagano, and Tokyo, as much as I will enjoy sharing them with you! BONSAI!!!

We were determined to complete the red line on the map. The history of the construction chronicles the arduous efforts of the Russians that is little known or appreciated. We are curious whether Vladivostok is booming or forgotten. It’s an interesting corner of the world that few travelers tackle. Originally we wanted to take the ferry from Vladivostok to Korea, then to Japan. But the ferry only went once a week and crimped our schedule, so we are flying to Tokyo instead. Stay tuned so you can join us and follow along!

OH MY!!!!I can’t wait to travel along (and I am hoping in a few short years to meet up with you on one of these awesome adventures (at least for a short part of it)….)You gooooooooooooooooo, girl!!!I love that you are doing this!! just wish it included a stop in Chicago!!!hugs, p

Our stop in Chicago was so full of fun and good company, I don’t know if we could top it. I did discover many amazing dimensions of Chicago that many Americans miss. The city is so rich with the country’s most beautiful high rise architecture–even in the world! And the Cultural Center, Art Institute, and river amenities are fantastic. It’s one of my favorite cities. You will have to come back to San Francisco to see if we can match your venerable institutions–maybe when the SF MOMA extension opens. Unfortunately our high rises won’t ever be able to compete–that’s a foregone conclusion. But the Bay and Pacific Ocean will always be here.

Thanks for your comment and ongoing support! Please let others know if you think they might be interested…always welcome new readers. Hopefully this trip will not be repeating too many events from the past two, so I’ll try to keep the experiences fresh.

We are about to visit Japan,mainly to see our grandson but we hope to do a bit of touristing as well. As preparation I have just read ‘Japan through the looking glass’ by Alan Macfarlane (Profile Books 2008). Very interesting analysis & explanation of the subtle differences between Japanese & Western cultures. Worth a look if you’ve got time.
Enjoy your trip.

As an opera fan, you might want to check out Noh theater while you are there. After seeing Mme. Butterfly at the Metopera movie I got curious about the theater forms that are so reflective of the culture in Japan. SF Opera is premiering Dream of the Red Chamber this Fall. Maybe your Turandot stint can get you a slot when it’s performed in London!! I’m checking the opera schedule in Vladivostok, but it’s tied to the Mariinsky in St. Petersburg!